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Heart Valve Program

The Heart Valve Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital Corrigan Minehan Heart Center brings together specialists to evaluate, treat and provide long-term care for patients with heart valve conditions.

The Heart Valve Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital Corrigan Minehan Heart Center provides a multidisciplinary team of experts to manage complex and common valve diseases. In this unique program, specialists in valvular heart disease, cardiac imaging, interventional cardiology, cardiac surgery and cardiac anesthesia work together to:

Fully diagnose and understand a patient’s valve condition

Determine if a patient needs an intervention on their heart valve

The options to treat heart valve disease include:

Surgery—both minimally invasive and open surgical procedures

Catheter-based procedures

For all patients, we provide personalized and comprehensive care to determine the best and most appropriate approach to treatment.

A Convenient Process Customized to Each Patient

Our team strives to make the evaluation process convenient and efficient by coordinating care among all specialists and by quickly communicating with referring physicians. We customize each patient’s appointment to meet their specific needs.

Prior to a patient's initial visit, Heart Valve Program physicians collect and review all records and imaging studies to determine what additional tests or consults are needed, and when possible, to schedule those appointments on the same day.

Dolly’s Story: Getting Back on Her Feet

Dolly Lakkis—a business owner, optician and competitive dancer—didn’t have time to be sick. When mitral valve disease started to affect the quality of her life, she turned to a team of Mass General specialists. Dolly’s doctors were able to repair her damaged heart valve with minimally invasive surgery that got her back on her feet—and back on the dance floor—as quickly as possible. Watch video

A patient's initial evaluation in the Heart Valve Program includes a full assessment, with a determination of whether or not an intervention is necessary, and if so, which procedure is most appropriate for the patient's specific condition.

Our physicians have seen the full spectrum of heart valve disorders and are experienced in treating the following conditions:

About this Program

The Heart Valve Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital Corrigan Minehan Heart Center brings together specialists in noninvasive cardiology, interventional cardiology, cardiac imaging and cardiac surgery to provide an optimal evaluation, treatment and care of patients with heart valve disorders.

In addition, all of our physicians are on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, which means they not only have a mission to provide the best possible patient care, but also a commitment to educate the next generation of medical professionals.

Making a Mark on the Field of Cardiology

Heart Valve Program physicians have made breakthroughs in diagnosing heart valve diseases. In the late 1980s, our physicians helped redefine the criteria needed to diagnose mitral valve prolapse using echocardiography. Mitral valve prolapse is a condition that occurs when the valve between the left upper chamber and the left lower chamber of the heart doesn't close properly. By redefining these criteria, our physicians helped to drastically reduce the number of misdiagnosed patients in the United States. Today our physicians are continuing research on mitral valve prolapse, but focusing on cardiac genetics and its tie in to the condition.

Innovative Research

Our Heart Valve Program experts are conducting groundbreaking research and clinical trials to improve the care of individuals with heart disease.

Clinical trials and studies currently underway include:

PORTICO transcatheter aortic valve system trial

COAPT trial for individuals with mitral valve regurgitation and are not appropriate candidates for surgery

Conditions & Diseases

The care team at the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center encourages all patients and family members to learn more about conditions and diseases that affect the heart and overall cardiovascular system. The links below provide more information about heart conditions and diseases that might be treated within this program.

Patient Education

Mass General is dedicated to ensuring that people understand their health care choices and have the necessary information to make decisions affecting their health and well being. The related support and wellness information listed below can play a role in treatment options.

As you prepare for your catheterization, Massachusetts General Hospital clinicians want you to feel as comfortable as possible. To help you understand what to expect during your visit, this booklet describes key steps of your catheterization procedure.

The Massachusetts General Hospital Heart Center offers a patient guide to cardiac anesthesia. Our dedicated clinicians believe it is important for you to know what to expect before, during and after a cardiac anesthesia.

Contact

Contact Us

Corrigan Minehan Heart Center

55 Fruit Street
Boston, MA02114

Near Public Transit

Accessible

Phone: 866-644-8910

If you are a new patient, you may call the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center outpatient access office at 866-644-8910, or complete our online appointment form to request an appointment. A member of our access team will ask you more about your condition and symptoms, and match you with the best-fitting Corrigan Minehan Heart Center physician.

Robert Levine, MD and Jacob Dal-Bianco, MD, of the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center at Massachusetts General Hospital are researching the genetics of heart valve disease with the goal of developing preventative therapies.

Massachusetts General Hospital now offers the MitraClip system for patients with severe mitral regurgitation. This new, minimally invasive mitral valve repair approach is a potential treatment option for patients who are too high risk for open-heart surgery.

Jonathan Passeri, MD, co-director of the Mass General Heart Valve Program and director of Interventional Echocardiography, talks about aortic valve stenosis and answers common questions about symptoms to look out for and treatment options.

Dolly Lakkis—a business owner, optician and competitive dancer—didn’t have time to be sick. When mitral valve disease started to affect the quality of her life, she turned to a team of specialists at the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dolly’s doctors were able to repair her damaged heart valve with minimally invasive surgery that got her back on her feet—and back on the dance floor—as quickly as possible.